You Tell Me: What Do You Believe About Mental Illness?

Posted on by Jama

I am taking a break from my regularly scheduled Workout and Meal Plan posts…partly because these last couple of days have been insanely busy and I have no idea what I’ve shoved in my face hole.

I also feel like, since this is my blog, I can talk about whatever I want. This does have to do with health and wellness and little encouragement (I hope), so it fits. It’s also personal, although I’m not really comfortable sharing to what extent.

In different communities, there are different beliefs about mental illness. Medication is hotly debated, as there are some who feel that they absolutely could not function without some sort of chemical help, and others who believe its a spiritual problem, or something to be solved with counseling, or dealt with through alternative means. I’m curious what you think and why.

When I say mental illness, I’m referring to any disease of the mind, from depression and anxiety, to learning disabilities and addiction, personality disorders, and the like. You don’t have to share personal experiences if you don’t feel comfortable with that, but I would love to know why you believe the way that you do. Please, be kind. Remember that, although you’re sitting in front of a screen, you are talking to real human beings, made in God’s image, so don’t type anything you wouldn’t say to your closest friend.

I’ll say that I fall somewhere in the middle. I absolutely believe there is a time and a place for medication when it comes to mental illness. It seems, though, that we face a few very specific problems in our country: we over-diagnose “mental illness,” many people expect an easy out in the form of popping a pill, and many mental issues are actually spiritual problems.

So, talk to me. Show me your side. Be encouraging.

And know that, if you are suffering from any sort of mental illness, there is hope.

<3 Jama

Wednesday Workout and Meal Plan

Posted on by Jama

Morning y’all! I’m posting this courtesy of MyFitnessPal. If you don’t have the MyFitnessPal app, I highly recommend it! I use MyFitnessPal to keep track of food, exercise, and progress with weight goals. It’s easy to use and I like being able to look back and see what I was doing/eating when I am at my most fit. This is how I can tell you my calories and macros at the end of these posts. Love. It.

So. Wednesday. And before I start, remember that I told you I’d be completely honest. My diet isn’t perfect. I really enjoy GOOD food (quality food, healthy or not). McDonald’s makes me gag, but a good burger just can’t be beat. 🙂
4:35am – Slam (I decided to try drinking a Slam before my workouts and saving my Spark for after…love it!); Biocharge
5:15am – 4ish mile run (we got a bit of a late start, so we were just shy of 4 miles)
6am – Power Pump
7am – Watermelon Spark; MNS Color Pack
7:30am – Pumpkin Spice Meal Replacement Shake
9am – turkey sausage and scrambled eggs; grapes; Omega Plex
11:30am – Watermelon Spark; MNS Color Pack
12pm – bacon, mushroom, swiss burger and fries (there it was!); MNS White Packs
6pm – (I haven’t given this meal a name yet…I’ll name it and post the recipe later!) chicken breast, Rotel, and black beans over rice; blue corn tortilla chips; Omega Plex
10pm – Nighttime Recovery

1,790 calories; 37% carb, 24% protein, 39% fat

<3 Jama

BBQ Chicken and Roasted Potato Casserole

Posted on by Jama

This is super duper easy, y’all, and the hubs loves it!

3/4lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/3cup bbq sauce (go with an all-natural, no sugar sauce)
3-4 baking potatoes
2tbs butter or margarine
1/2cup shredded cheddar
1/2cup low fat sour cream
cooking spray
salt and pepper

In the morning, place chicken breasts and bbq sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 8 or so hours. Pull chicken apart with a fork.

Preheat oven to 450. Spray a 9×11 baking dish with cooking spray. Slice potatoes into cubes, place in dish, and add salt, pepper, and butter or margarine (just enough butter to keep the potatoes moist while cooking…NOT MUCH!). Bake potatoes uncovered for 30 minutes or so. I like crispy potatoes, so I cook them a little longer, stirring about halfway through.

Add bbq chicken to potatoes and spread sour cream and cheese over top. Reduce heat to 350 and return to oven until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

<3 Jama

Tuesday Workout and Meal Plan

Posted on by Jama

I was planning on “sleeping in” until 5:20 this morning, but woke up at 4:09. Seriously. Who does that?

I fiddled around on Facebook, went back to sleep for a bit, and then got started at 5:20 anyway. So there!
5:30am – Watermelon Spark
6am – 1 hour cycle class (Shout out to Kathy at the Wellness Center who kicked my booty…and quads and calves and hamstrings)
7am – MNS color pack
7:20am – Chocolate Mocha Meal Replacement Shake
9am – banana and 1/4cup almonds; Omega Plex
11am – Watermelon Spark and MNS color pack
11:30pm – sliced apples; black beans and rice with low fat sour cream, shredded cheddar, salsa, and onion; 1/2cup greek yogurt; MNS white packs
3pm – Boars Head Blazing Buffalo chicken breast; 1tbs hummus; 1tbs peanut butter (I get that this is weird. I’m fine with it)
7pm – BBQ Chicken and Roasted Potato Casserole; Omega Plex
9:30pm – Nighttime Recovery

1802 calories; 48% carb, 27% fat, 25% protein

There you have it! Things will start to look a little different once I incorporate more Performance Elite products over the next several days.

<3 Jama

Monday Workout and Meal Plan

Posted on by Jama

When starting a healthy lifestyle, it can be overwhelming to try and figure out what to eat when! This week I’ll be posting my daily workouts and meal plan as a way for y’all to see what a typical day looks like for me. This also holds me accountable if I decide it might be a good idea to eat a doughnut or 10. 😉

4:45am – Watermelon Spark
5:15am – run (4.5 miles)
6am – Power Pump (50 minute lifting class)
7am – MNS Color Pack
7:20am – Chocolate Mocha Meal Replacement Shake
7:30am – run (1 mile with Abby Dog)
9am – banana and 1/4cup almonds; Omega Plex
11am – MNS Color Pack and Watermelon Spark
11:30am – Chicken Noodle Soup, sliced apple, and MNS White Packs
3pm – Iced Coffee and Dark Chocolate Bar No Sugar Added frozen yogurt from Menchies, with slivered almonds, strawberries, and cherries
4pm – Watermelon Spark
5pm – 4oz Boars Head Blazing Buffalo sliced chicken breast
7pm – 3/4cup brown rice and 1/2cup black beans, topped with shredded cheddar, low fat sour cream, onions, salsa, and black pepper; Omega Plex
9pm – bedtime! Nighttime Recovery

So, for the day, I ate 1,782 calories; 54% carbs, 24% protein, and 22% fat. My goal is 40/30/30, so I was a little carb heavy today, but that will serve me well in cycle tomorrow morning!

<3 Jama

Clean and Healthy Bath Products

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This is totally a shameless plug for my friend, Lorie’s, business!

Lorie has been making homemade bath products for several years now. I’m proud to say that I got to be one of her guinea pigs in the beginning, trying out all her little handmade soaps. She has now built this amazing business and makes the most awesome bath and body products I’ve ever tried. I’ve been working on her Etsy shop, revamping names for products and writing her descriptions. I’m really hoping to bring people in with my funny stories, have them order a thing or two, and then be a customer for life. No joke…once you try her stuff, you’ll be hooked. I feel kind of ripped off and icky now when I use anything else!

Clean and healthy doesn’t just apply to diet and exercise, but to what you’re putting on the outside of your body, too. I feel a lot better using Lorie’s soaps and lotions, knowing that she makes everything by hand with natural ingredients. Plus I’m supporting a local business and general, all-around, awesome mama.

So, check out her Etsy shop and giggle a little at my descriptions. Then order a thing or two. You’ll make two mamas happy!

For the Love of Suds on Etsy

<3 Jama

Easy (Clean!) Chicken Noodle Soup

Posted on by Jama

My hubs has the crud and said that he wanted some chicken noodle soup. Since Campbell’s is out of the question, I searched Pinterest for a canned-like, clean, chicken noodle soup with NO vegetables (per his request. He’s not a veggie fan).

That apparently doesn’t exist.

Despite my very best mothering efforts, I can’t reverse 40 years of vegetable-hating or turn my three boys into fancy eaters overnight. I was on my own.

The recipe that follows is what I came up with. It is super simple and PLAIN. It’s perfect kid-food. Or husband-food if he hates vegetables and wants some comfort soup. Campbell’s it ain’t, but it was as close as I could come and keep it healthy!

Jama’s Own Clean Chicken Noodle Soup

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into TINY cubes
32oz organic, low-sodium chicken broth (I used Harvest Organic from Ingles)
6oz (half a bag) of Whole Wheat No Yolks egg noodles
garlic powder
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Get 3qts of water boiling in a large pot for the egg noodles (per package directions). Cook the chicken through with just a splash of chicken broth. Add garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper – all to taste. Add the rest of the chicken broth to the chicken and spices and let simmer while your noodles are cooking. When the noodles are ALMOST done, drain, return to pot, and add chicken and broth. I let the noodles finish cooking in the chicken and broth mixture so that they had a little flavor. I’m guessing about 10 minutes? I gave it a couple of tastes before it was just right. Boom. Chicken noodle soup.

This was a HUGE hit – like everyone got seconds kind of huge hit. The next time I make it, I’ll cook some veggies separately to add in to mine and the kids’ bowls. Tonight I just made some grilled cheese on whole wheat sourdough bread. Comfort food that I can feel good about!

Here’s the deal, y’all – not everything has to be fancy. Kids generally don’t like fancy stuff and, while I do cook a lot that requires a more mature palate, there is nothing wrong with making something super simple that you know your family will love. Tweak it, make it healthy, and enjoy it!

<3 Jama

Go-To Pizza

Posted on by Jama

Every Friday is pizza night at my house, and has been for a few years now. We’ve gone from buying different types of dough from the store, to using french bread from the grocery’s bakery, to making my own dough from scratch. Whenever we decided to cut out sugar and white flour, I was tasked with discovering a pizza dough that would make my boys happy that didn’t include the offending ingredients. It was easier than I expected!

I took my old recipe, switched to whole wheat or spelt flour (whichever I happened to have on hand) and just cut out the sugar. That’s it. And it’s GOOD!

Jama’s Easy Clean Pizza

2.5-3 cups whole grain flour (wheat, spelt, or a mixture of those with a potato or rice flour)
3 1/2 teaspoons quick-rising yeast
1 cup hot water (from the tap is fine, but make sure it’s HOT!)
pinch of salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1C flour, yeast, and salt, and blend well. Gradually add water to mixture. Blend at a low speed until moistened, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, add 1.5-2 cups flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. On a floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.

Divide dough in half and press out onto two pizza pans (I use pizza stones…do that if you have them!) and prick randomly with a fork. Let rest again in a warm place for 10-15 minutes while your oven preheats to 450.

Bake at 450 for 5 minutes.

Add sugar-free pasta sauce or some roma tomatoes, cheese, and your favorite toppings and bake for another 5 minutes or until desired doneness.

<3 Jama

Clean Eating Mama

Posted on by Jama

Cooking lean and clean isn’t easy when you didn’t start out cooking that way. For ladies like me, who were raised in the South, we know how to cook Southern food (i.e., NOT clean!). Add to that the fact that most moms in my stage of life were raised in the 80’s, watching our moms cook out of boxes and bags, and trying to cook clean, healthy meals is a challenge to say the least.

After I gained sixty pounds with my first pregnancy – and didn’t come home from the hospital with a 60lb baby – I started learning about health, exercise, and nutrition. Now, nearly eight years later, I am a marathoner, a gym rat, and passionate healthy eater (although, truth be told, I still love doughnuts!!). I’ve had my ups and downs, because eating junk is easy, and there are times when easy seems to be more important than healthy.

My goal for this blog has become helping others get healthy through exercise, healthy eating, and superior supplementation. I don’t want people to look at me and think “I could never do that.” You can, and I am happy to share the secrets! Living healthy isn’t hard when you have all the information.

So, let’s call this a new day. In the coming weeks you will find tips, tricks, and encouragement for living a healthy life.

<3 Jama

To Be An Encourager

Posted on by Jama

So often the most important lessons we learn come from having to face the opposite of what we want to be. Being faced with a constant barrage of “You’ll never be able to do that!” and only the occasional “I’m sure you’ll do great!” has taught me how very important it is to be an encourager.

You know the type…you call so-and-so to tell them some fantastic bit of news and they have only bad things to say. “Oh, that’s so hard. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to do it” or “I can’t believe you’re happy about that! I knew someone who did the same thing and failed miserably!” You dread calling these people with your good news because you know that they’re going to rain on your proverbial parade.

Then there are those that are a constant ray of sunshine. You could call these people and tell them that you’ve joined the Communist party and plan to blow up the universe and they’ll say “That’s fantastic! I’m sure you’ll be the best Communist bomber this world has ever seen!” I love those people. And I want to be one (the encourager – not the Communist bomber… 😉 )

It’s not easy to always see the bright side, to instantly have faith that those you love are going to succeed, but I think it’s a quality to be admired. I want to be the type of person that my family loves to come home to and share a bit of good news, knowing that I’ll have only positive things to say. I don’t want to be sunshiny in a false sort of way, but I do want my family and friends to know that I have faith in them.

I’m working on being Mrs. Sunshiny Support to my husband, which is much harder than one might expect. He comes home and tells me that he’s thinking about spending $100 to join some sort of gun club and I think, “You want to spend how much on what?!?” I say, however, “That sounds like fun, dear! Tell me about it.” The more we talk the more I discover that he knows that $100 is a lot to spend on joining a gun club, but that he has saved money by driving a car with better gas mileage and using his phone as an MP3 player rather than buying an IPOD…I realize that by expecting the best I usually get it! Plus, I get to talk to my husband more because I’m no longer the wet-blanket that poo-poos all his exciting news. What a treat!

Then I think of my son. I want to be the kind of mom that he looks forward to talking to. I want him to run home to tell me all of his exciting news, knowing that I will offer him the utmost support. I don’t ever want him to dread telling me some bit of exciting news for fear that I’ll only have the worst to say.

So, I’m thankful (sort of) for the wet blankets in my life. I appreciate those people who have taught me how to be the type of person that I want to be, simply by being an example of what I don’t want to be.